Water Party at School

Taeya was supposed to miss the water party at school since it was scheduled for one of the days we were in lake powell, but due to weather the date was changed and Taeya was so excited to be involved. Mrs. Reiber is a great teacher and super organized. Anastyn and I were able to go and help - we made snow cones. They had rotating stations, Bubbles, Sand, Snowcone, and Water Slide. What a fun day to celebrate a great year in Kindergarten! 

Playing with the bubbles.

Anastyn helping with the sand fun.

Snow cones were a huge hit.  The kids waited patiently for their turn.

The cute girls in Taeya's group.

My little Anastyn enjoyed a snow cone too.  She loved coming to the school with me during the year.  I'm so lucky that Mrs. Reiber allowed her to come and we were able to spend as much time as we did in the classroom.  It was so much fun.

Dance Recital #2

Anastyn has loved, loved, loved her dance class this year. She started in February and looked forward to it each week. Miss Bobi loves these girls and is so much fun. Anastyn has been excited for her dance recital. I didn't know how she would do up on the big stage during the performance but she ended up doing great! She was singing and doing all the moves the whole time. At the end she even went to the front of the stage and waved to everyone. It was so cute. We are looking forward to another year of dancing! 

Annie, Lilly, Anastyn, and Alayna - The last day of class was a dress rehearsal - it didn't got so well.  Miss Bobi said a bad dress rehearsal makes for a good recital.  I think she was mostly right! 

Anastyn - my cool cat.

Miss Bobi gave each of the girls a certificate and a beautiful princess crown thing. 

This is not a very good picture but this is all the girls up on the state - Anastyn is third from the right.

After the performance Anastyn was wired - we had a hard time to get her to hold still.  And I put way to much makeup on her.  She rubbed her eyes on the way there and I couldn't get it off under her little eyes!

Dad and Anastyn - another proud moment.

Anastyn and Taeya - Taeya loved watching her perform and was so excited for her!

The best we could do with these 2 together.

Alayna was happy to smile for me.

Nana also came to watch but we didn't end up getting a picture of her.  After the performance Alyson and I took the girls to dinner at Noodles and Company.  It was yummy and they all must've been starving because they ate really well. 

Lake Powell in May

We convinced the Bailey's to buy into a houseboat with us. It's an older boat at Halls Marina called "Crazy Eights." We thought it would be really great for Effy (Bailey's foreign exchange student)to see Lake Powell before she had to go home the next week so we planned an early trip. Unfortunately Effy wasn't able to come with us because she had some school work she couldn't miss but we went without her and had a great time. The water was pretty cold, I only got in once, and the weather was a touch chilly. Thursday was great, Friday and Saturday we had some bad wind which kind of put a hold on our water activities. The Lyman's came for a short visit on Saturday and we were lucky to get them safely back to our boat. While we were gone the anchors came undone and and the houseboat did a 180. Thank goodness Seth was there to man the ship! Sunday the wind calmed down and we were able to do some sightseeing. The air felt nice. While the boat was moving a light jacket helped you feel comfortable, but when the boat stopped it was a little warm with the jacket on. Monday morning we went for one last run, then packed up, cleaned up, and headed home. We had such a great trip. Here are a million pictures that will share more details of our trip: 

Anastyn and Alayna playing in the sand, they also enjoyed throwing rocks in the water.  These 2 didn't spend too much time in the water - I think it was a little cold for them too.

Kira and Taeya loved the sand too, unlike the little girls these big girls spent more time in the water.  Although they shivered when they got out!

Our new purchase - A Seventh Ownership in Crazy Eights!

Taeya and Brynn playing in the mud.

Anastyn, Brynn, and Taeya - now this is what the girls spent a lot of time doing, playing in the raft.  We didn't buy any paddles so the girls got creative and used a frisbee.

During our windy days the girls had a great time playing cards and eating yummy treats.  I read, watched Gordon and Seth play cards and enjoyed watching the girls play.

The big girls played a lot of Memory.

After hours of card playing the girls did some exploring, they discovered they could fit in the cupboards above the bed.

Olivia, Taeya, Kira, and Brynn - The kids loved the few hours they had to play in the water.

Ana Banana lounging around.

Cute little McCoy had a great time too.

McCoy, Alayna, and Anastyn - these little ones aren't babies anymore! (Where is Bryce when we need him?)

We got to meet sweet baby Mason - Anastyn enjoyed holding him for a minute. 

The Lyman's brought us yummy chicken fajitas and delicious cupcakes for dessert.  The kids favorite was the lemonaid cupcakes.

Me, Heather, and Alyson - we love Heather so much and miss her even more.  So glad we got to have a little visit with her. 

The tube was fun for these 3 - They went for a nice long ride on our way to Forgotten Canyon.

Pretending to sleep - Probably because it took us so long to get ready to go for a ride.

Alayna insisted on wearing her sunglasses upside down - so cute!

Brynn and Taeya at the Indian houses in Forgotten Canyon

Seth enjoying the view - Gordon stayed down with the boat to keep it safe.

The Bailey Family

Taeya learned how to knee board and loved it.

Kira, Brynn, and Anastyn, Brynn did some knee boarding too!

Taeya also tried some waterskiing.  She couldn't quite get up behind the big boat.  She usually skis behind the wave runner and does a shore start.  But she tried!

To carry on with tradition, Gordon took the girls wakeboarding with him.

Anastyn wasn't quite as excited to got wakeboarding, not sure what she afraid of!

We had a great trip, it was so much fun.  Next time we need to figure out how to get off the lake quicker, it was a lot of work getting the boat all cleaned up and unloaded.  We didn't end up getting off the lake until 6:00pm, that meant we didn't get home until after midnight.  We still had to clean the ski boat and unload.  It made for a really late night, but a fun relaxing trip!  Totally worth the late night. 

Dance Recital #1

Taeya started taking Ballet lessons at The Point in January of this year. She goes once a week on Thursday's from 3:00-4:00pm. She loves it. She has a great teacher named Jen who knows her stuff and seems to truly have a love for Ballet. Taeya has loved every minute of her lessons and was really looking forward to her dance recital. The studio was doing "Alice In Wonderland." Taeya was a beautiful butterfly. She loved her costume and all of the makeup she was "required" to wear and we loved watching her perform on stage. She loved it and didn't even have any "butterflies" in her stomach! 

Here's a close-up of our beautiful butterfly after the performance. 

She looked so beautiful and loved every minute of her performing.

Dad was pretty proud, he was a great sport and was happy to attend the performance.

I was pretty proud of my butterfly too. 

We loved watching Brynn perform also.  Taeya absolutely loves Brynn and wants to be just like her!